~Introductory Note: The
mystery of the seven churches (Rev 2-3) is revealed in the fact that
they outline the prophetic history of the Church from Pentecost to the
Lord’s appearing in the clouds, an era some refer to as the “age of
grace.” From the humble, sincere, and zealous beginning to the prideful,
blind, and heretical end, the seven letters to the seven churches offer
spiritual lessons (founded on their original historical contexts)
concerning proper conduct and direction for the Church that is as vital
today as when first written. Why were only seven churches chosen out of
the thousands that existed at the time? Jesus chose these seven churches
of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and listed them in specific order
pertaining to their positive and negative attributes and the struggles
they faced.
In retrospect, we now can see these
church exemplars as ideal for instructing all Christians in
discipleship; and the qualities and struggles of each example have
turned out to be prophetic revelation revealing the future (current)
history of the Church. Furthermore, the seven churches were personally
familiar to the apostle John, to whom Jesus gave His revelation.
For each church I will briefly outline
both historic and prophetic characteristics. To introduce each church I
have included a fourfold template listing a commendation, a
condemnation, instructive counsel, and a challenge. Though these were
each given to the respective churches by Jesus Himself, I must give
credit to the late pastor, author, and scholar Tim Lahaye for this
fourfold template that comprehensively captures the profound simplicity
of Jesus’ message.[1]
The Apostolic Church {AD 30--100}[2]
(Rev. 2:1-7)
*Commendation: Good works, labor, patience, hated the Nicolaitans (heretics).
*Condemnation: You have left your first love.
*Counsel: Remember from where you have fallen and repent.
*Challenge: "To him who overcomes..." will be given to eat of the tree of life.
~ ~ ~
Founded by Athenian colonists around BC 1000, the city of Ephesus is
considered by numerous Bible scholars to have birthed one of the
greatest New Testament churches. For information on the founding of this
church, read Acts 18–20. The name Ephesus means “desired one,” a
fitting description of the church for it was highly notable of all the
churches in its purpose and practice. However, its one flaw was
inexcusable, as we shall see.
Ephesus, a seaport, was only about fifty miles northeast of Patmos. At
the time of John’s sentence to the infamous island in the Aegean Sea he
was one of the elders of the church in Ephesus. On John’s release from
imprisonment, Clement of Alexandria commented,
…the Apostle John… on the tyrant’s [Roman emperor Domitian’s] death… returned to Ephesus from the isle of Patmos, he went away, being invited, to the contiguous territories of the nations, here to appoint bishops, there to set in order whole churches, there to ordain such as were marked out by the Spirit.[3]
Apostolic Foundation
The early church unashamedly preached the Gospel around the known world,
showing us that bold evangelism was a major requisite for widespread
conversion to Christianity. The church in Ephesus truly displayed this
trait, undoubtedly kindled by apostolic zeal; for of the seven churches
mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, Ephesus is the only one in which the
apostles are referred to, as they assisted in the establishment of this
church personally. This fact alone offers sound reason for the awesome
strength and endurance of the early church, as well as scriptural
support for not commissioning apostles in the post-apostolic/modern era in that such work and doctrinal authority are laid out in the New Testament canon (in its finality). Anyone commissioned as or assuming the title apostle
(meaning “one who is sent”) today must be understood to simply be an
itinerant elder or missionary/church planter, not one who establishes
new doctrine.
The apostle Paul, after establishing the Ephesian church (Acts 19:1-8),
remained in Ephesus and for two years daily disputed in the school of
Tyrannus, after which “upon the eve of a great revival, believers made a
great bonfire of books of magical arts valued at 50,000 pieces of
silver.”[4] A few years later,
Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church shows his labor there to have been
well rewarded (Ephesians 1:1-3). And in subsequent years Ephesus would
celebrate Paul’s protege Timothy as its first long-term shepherd-bishop
(1 Timothy 1:3). As mentioned above in Clement’s statement, John would
follow Timothy in this function upon his release from Patmos, living out
his days preaching and teaching until dying a natural death (ca. AD 98)
around the age of 100.
No Love, No Light--Know Love, Know Light
Ephesus was a working, pure, autonomous,
and uncompromising church. However, Jesus accused it of forsaking its
“first love.” The people in this church were very bold and zealous for
the Lord, but eventually the natural tendency to take something for
granted began to pervade the assemblies, resulting in no less than
losing the intimate awareness of the spiritual power and privileges and
wonder of knowing Christ! Perhaps “heresy-hunting had killed
love; it may well be that eagerness to root out all mistaken men had
ended in a sour and rigid orthodoxy.”[5] Or that orthodoxy had been achieved at the cost of fellowship with Christ.
It is for this reason that the Lord
counseled these early believers to repent and remember the things that
they had done in the beginning upon first being born into His kingdom.
He wanted them (and us today) to always remember, and abide in, the
absolute excitement of knowing our first love and realizing our place in
the kingdom of heaven. And for those who live for Christ continuously, without becoming lukewarm in worshipful devotion to Him (see the Laodicean church), there is the promise of everlasting life!
A most frightening verse is found in
Revelation 2:5, wherein after Christ encourages the church to repentance
after forsaking its “first love,” He then threatens to remove the
church’s “lampstand,” meaning that upon a church’s departure from sound
doctrine and/or upon its removal (even unintentionally) of Christ as the
authoritative Head, He will do no less than remove that church’s
influence as a light in the world–effectively rendering a church as
democratically-driven rather than Spirit-driven.
This fell reality is not uncommon among
modern congregations, and the churches of today would do well to
practice continual (individual and corporate) prayerful
spiritual evaluation of the leadership and laity alike so as to keep
constant in both devotion to Christ and discernment of His direction.
In Revelation 2:6 Jesus states a commendable trait for the Ephesian congregation, saying,
"But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate."
It may be odd to hear Jesus commending hate when He had earlier
commanded and exemplified loving one’s enemies (Matthew 5:44; Luke
6:27), but note that it is the deeds and doctrines of
the Nicolaitans that were hated, not the perpetrators themselves. We
will more closely examine the Nicolaitans in our look at the Pergamos
church.
Notes:
1. Tim Lahaye, Revelation Unveiled, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), p43.
2. The hypothesized associative historical eras for the seven churches are courtesy of Gary G. Cohen, Understanding Revelation, (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1978), pp53-54.
3. Clement of Alexandria, Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved? Cha. XLII, op. cit., Vol. II, p603, column a.
4. J.B. Smith, A Revelation of Jesus Christ, (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1974), pp57-58.
5. William Barclay, The Revelation of John, Vol. 1, (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1960), p77.
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